Protein Muddy Buddies

A lightened up version of muddy buddies with an added protein boost! Gluten-free, dairy-free with a low-sugar option as well.

Muddy Buddies, Puppy Chow, Trash… it goes by many names, but no matter what you call it – it’s a delicious and highly addictive sugary treat!

It’s also not a health food.

I’m all about indulging, especially around the holidays, but I find it fun to make recipes a little healthier so I tweaked the classic recipes for muddy buddies that I grew up with as a kid. The EBF version has fewer calories and more protein than the traditional blend, but it tastes just as good! One 1/2 cup serving has 4 grams of protein, but if you’re looking for even more protein, you can add more protein powder than powdered sugar. I was making this mix as a gift and didn’t want the protein powder flavor to be too overwhelming so I decided to roll with 1/4 cup.

Here’s What You Need

• Rice Chex or Corn Chex – traditionally muddy buddies are made with rice or corn chex but feel free to use wahtever cereal you prefer!
• dark chocolate chips – grab dairy-free if you need it, I like to use Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels. Lily’s dark chocolate chips are not dairy-free but have less sugar.
• peanut butter – make sure you use peanut butter with no added sugar, just peanuts and salt!
• coconut oil – you’ll use coconut oil to help the chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar to stick to the cereal.
• powdered sugar – if you’d like these to be lower in sugar you can use powdered erythritol like Swerve instead.
• vanilla protein powder – I like to use Nuzest vanilla protein powder, but use your favorite brand!

How to Make Protein Muddy Buddies

Measure the cereal and place it in a large bowl, set aside.

Next, pour powdered sugar or powdered erythritol and protein powder into a 2-gallon resealable zip-lock bag.

In a saucepan over low-medium heat add peanut butter, chocolate chips and coconut oil. Stir continuously until chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth. Then carefully pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and toss until evenly coated.

Carefully pour the coated cereal mixture into the bag with powdered sugar and protein powder. Seal the bag and shake until well coated. Spread the muddy buddies onto parchment paper to cool completely. Make sure you let it cool for a while before putting it in a container, otherwise your mix will get soggy!

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Tip!
Keeping it in the fridge will keep it fresh and crunchy!

Tips and Substitutions

Note about using powdered peanut butter:

When I first created this recipe I used powdered peanut butter mixed with water instead of regular peanut butter to keep the protein high and fat content lower. This option works, but the water in the mixture kind of makes the chocolate seize a little and the chocolate mixture becomes more like a paste instead of a drippy chocolate sauce. This makes it harder to coat the cereal. That said, I’ve made it several times using this method and it still works, you just have to toss the cereal with the chocolate mixture a bit more to get a good coating.

Note about using powdered erythritol:

If you want to make this recipe lower in sugar, you can use powdered erythritol. I tried the recipe with Swerve confectioners sugar and it worked great BUT sugar alcohols give me really bad gas (TMI, I know…). That said, I personally would much rather make this with regular powdered sugar, however if your tummy can tolerate erythritol it’s a great way to decrease the sugar content!

Make a batch to take to your next holiday party or portion into cute containers and give it away as gifts. Or keep it around the house – but I will warn you, it’s easy to eat a whole batch of it in a day. Not that happened to me or anything. 😉

More Healthy Snack Recipes

• Maple Cinnamon Breakfast Trail Mix
• Chunky Monkey Trail Mix
• Rosemary Candied Pecans
• Chocolate Covered Frozen Raspberries
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Protein Muddy Buddies

5 from 4 votes

Make muddy buddies a bit healthier with a protein boost with just a few easy substitutions! Gluten-free and dairy-free. 

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Total Time 12 minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 6 cups Rice or Corn Chex
• ⅔ cup dark chocolate chips, dairy-free if needed*
• ⅓ cup natural peanut butter*
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• ¾ cup powdered sugar or powdered erythritol*
• ¼ cup vanilla protein powder

Instructions

 

• Measure cereal and place in a large bowl, set aside.
• Pour powered sugar or powdered erythritol and protein powder into 2-gallon resealable zip-lock bag.
• In a saucepan over low-medium heat add peanut butter, chocolate chips and coconut oil. Stir continuously until chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth.
• Pour chocolate mixture over cereal and toss until evenly coated.
• Carefully pour coated cereal mixture into the bag with the powdered sugar and protein powder. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on parchment paper to cool completely. Make sure you let it cool for a while before putting it in a container, otherwise your mix will get soggy.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keeping it in the fridge will keep it fresh and crunchy!

Notes

• Chex is the traditional cereal used for Muddy Buddies, but you can always try different cereal options!
• If you prefer to use powdered peanut butter for lower fat content, mix 1/4 cup powered peanut butter (like PB2) with 2 Tablespoons almond milk  or water and 1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter. Use this instead of the 1/3 cup peanut butter.
• For dairy-free chocolate chips, I like using Enjoy Life or SunSpire!
• Powdered erythritol makes this lower in sugar. I’ve used Swerve and it worked great.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/2 cup (made with regular powdered sugar) Calories: 202kcal Carbohydrates: 27g Protein: 4g Fat: 9g Sodium: 148mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 13g

Author: Brittany Mullins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: protein muddy buddies

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